


Clash in the Clouds

by Enchiridion88



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Aerial Combat, Biplane, Character Death, Dogfight - Freeform, Flying, Tails the Fox, Tornado, World War One, ace - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-09 05:10:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4335110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enchiridion88/pseuds/Enchiridion88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Far above the clouds, Tails faces impossible odds in a dogfight for the century. Partially influenced by the World War One movie, "Hell's Angels." One-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clash in the Clouds

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Sonic story. Let me know how I did.
> 
> Also, as is usual with my stories, there is a song that goes with this. This is not required, but it is recommended. It is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64: Adante Cantibile, which is the theme for the movie, Hell's Angels, which is also a plane movie. This is a very fitting piece of music for this one shot.
> 
> Enjoy.

The setting opens upon the clear, summer sky. The violins being to strum, ascending and descending.

Puffy white clouds glide as far as the eye can see. They lay flat as the sun reflects against them.

A deep blue biplane tears up through the thick layer of white. It spins as it levels off. It glides and swings high above the sky.

The young pilot inside sits at the ready. His leather pilot's cap is strapped tightly to his head. A Mauser pistol is strapped to his belt. A red scarf flutters behind him in the wind.

Tails the Fox relaxes his tight grip on the throttle. He gazes around at the clouds around him. Far above the reaches of man, nature, and what even seems like God himself, Tails is filled with childlike giddiness.

With the endless expanse of the sky around him as his playground, Tails pushes the throttle forward. The Tornado curves downward as the engine buzzes. The biplane shakes and shivers against the warm winds brushing against it. Then he peels off, arching and turning gracefully.

Roll.

Dip.

Swing.

Rising and climbing only to drop and fall back down again.

Tails commands the heavens. He twirls and dances in a way that can only be dreamed of. Despite the turbulence and the rough jitters of the engine, his hands are steady and set and his eyes are clear and focused.

Here, the twin tailed fox is free of any burdens; any fears; any embarrassment he feels down below. There is no one to yell at him or judge him by his age. There is no reason to worry or to cry. Here, he is his own master. Here, he is untouchable.

He smiles at this.

Dip, dip and swing.

He bursts through a towering mass of puffy white clouds. Tails can only laugh with giddiness as he levels off. His chest rises and his heart beats as loud and fast as the engine.

 _"Hey Tails!"_  comes crackling through the old, archaic headset. Another biplane rises up out of the clouds to drift alongside his. Inside sits his Tails's best friend in the world, Sonic. _"Come on, slow down for the rest of us!"_ On cue, two more planes level up to meet them. Now joining fly Knuckles and Amy.

For a change, Tails is in charge. He is the captain of his own squadron. For once, Tails can lead the way. The fox smiles and replies, "You're too slow!" before pushing the throttle and arching down. The other three follow suit.

Dip, dip and swing.

They peel upwards as they glide gracefully to the right.

Arching and weaving through the clouds.

Lost in a haze.

Suddenly, Tails levels off. He spots something up ahead he can hardly believe. The feeling in his chest shifts from excitement to fear.

Off in the distance gather almost a dozen biplanes. They are painted black against the blue and white background.

The others see them too. They join ranks alongside their leader. They are ready to fight and die alongside Tails.

The two squadrons gather closer and closer. When they finally seem like they would ram into each other, they all curve off.

The planes circle and swing into a wasps nest of chaos. Machine guns rip and ring across the sky. There is no up or down amongst the pandemonium.

Tails struggles to find himself as black, red, blue, and pink biplanes weave around and cut in front of him. Tails angles upwards, flying through the eye of the storm.

There is a brief moment of calm before Tails pulls backwards. He swings upside down and looks to see a black plane that was following his ascent. The daring fox straightens out and takes aim just as the inexperienced pilot is just beginning to mirror his earlier loop.

_**Brrttrtrrtttrrrtrtrtrrrt** _

The uneven staccato of machine gun fire pierces towards its target. The enemy plane bursts into flames as shards and debris fly in every direction.

Tails curves back into the mangled mess of the storm.

Dip, dip and swing.

Sonic flies across in front of his captain with two planes on his back. Tails presses on his throttle and the burst of .30 caliber rounds hit their mark. One plane emits a black smoke as it plummets downward with the engine screeching and screaming. The other panics and changes upwards, crashing directly into another unsuspecting plane. They collide nose-first and burst into flames.

Sonic shoots his commander a thumbs up.

Lost in the chaos, Tails cannot tell how many are left or who is still alive. He does not want to risk asking over the radio and breaking everyone's needed concentration.

Out of the clouds comes a thick, low groan. A gray and silver mass slowly glides out from a huge tower of cumulus clouds. Tails stares open-mouthed at the menace before him. Sailing gently towards them is a large Zeppelin; a balloon three football fields in length.

With gritting teeth, Tails breaks from the wild firefight and charges towards it.

The balloon's silver back holds several machine gun nests, waiting for unsuspecting pilots. Tails lifts the Tornado up higher than ever before. The biplane sits motionless for only a moment as it falls backwards. He angles down at an angle with the Zeppelin. His engine roars like a banshee; louder than any machine gun. The brownings on the zeppelin churn out as yellow streaks pass around Tails.

He fires as he strafes over top the balloon. A few of the enemy soldiers scream out and roll off the Zeppelin towards the unseen ground below.

Tails ascends, stops, and falls back down for another strafe, scoring more hits. However, the hydrogen giant is unphased as it continues to glide onwards. The twin tailed fox feels the hopelessness set in. How on earth can he take down the Zeppelin?

He looks back towards the fight raging onwards. The buzzing and circling planes are too hard to pick out, but he can at least see Sonic's.

Two black planes peel off and make their way towards Tails.

_Krackkrackkrackkrackkrackow_

Bullets shred apart the tail of the captain's airplane. For a short moment, he stopped paying attention to the gunners down below and it cost him dearly.

He banks out of range from the Zeppelin. It is a two on one fight.

Tails preempts the fight and fires first.

The three planes all spit burning death at each other before circling and winding around.

One plane follows behind Tails while the other circles around far along Tails's side. They plan to trap him.

Tails quickly turns to see the plane behind him. Strangely enough, the pilot appears to be Shadow. Tails dips down to escape the coming fire. He twists and weaves around and through them.

Dip, dip and swing.

A short, quick loop lands him behind Shadow. He lines the enemy plane in his sights and presses on the throttle. A burst flies out from his guns before suddenly stopping. He is out of ammunition and seemingly out of luck.

With fear etched across his face, Tails can only draw his long, awkward handled pistol and fire meekly at Shadow. After ten rounds, the bolt of his C96 locks back, laughing at his misfortune.

The other pilot pulls up behind Tails and opens fire. He banks out but the damage is done. His engine smokes and sputters and a few holes line the side of his cockpit.

Tails tastes the all too familiar sensation of blood dripping from his mouth. He looks to see that the pilot who did him in was none other than Rogue.

Despite the horrible state of his legs and chest, Tails could not feel any hint of pain, as if it was not there.

Without ammo, without a plan, and bleeding out, his options were running short. If he failed, the warship would bomb some far off target. He could not let that happen. There was only one thing the captain could do.

Tails rotates off from the fight, peeling upwards until the engine cracks and the plane stops. The fox spins and glides downwards to face the top of the Zeppelin.

 _"Tails, what are you doing?!"_  Sonic panics over the intercom.

Tails sighs one last time, content. He will stop the Zeppelin and be the hero he always wanted to be. He will go down as any great captain should: with honor, pride, and dignity.

His engine screeches and screams in objection.

The Ace closes his eyes as he beelines straight for the silver behemoth.

_"Tails...Tails..."_

"Tails."

The yellow fox opened his eyelids slowly. They felt glued together and his body was nearly immobile. He quickly gathered his surroundings. He sat against on of the wheels of the Tornado with tools scattered all around on the ground. His fur was matted and spotted with grease and various fluids.

The only source of light came from the gray static of a small television set atop a tall cart. The tape had long since finished and only the sounds of crackling filled its place. A tall slender figure stood between tails and the set.

"Come on, Tails, it's three in the morning," Sonic said in a concerned tone.

Tails rubbed his eyes and yawned, ears twitching as he did. "It's that late already?"

"What were you doing?"

Tails struggled to think back to before he fell asleep. "I thought a movie would help me stay awake to finish the tornado, but I guess I dozed off anyway," Tails said in a soft, exhausted tone as he slowly rose to his feet.

Sonic popped the VHS tape out of the player and turned the TV off. "Well that is enough of that," he muttered as he rolled his eyes at the name scribbled on the front of the cassette. "Come on bud, let's get you to bed."

Tails waved him off through a yawn, "Yeah yeah, in a minute. Just let me clean up a little."

"Alright, but don't take too long," Sonic replied as he left the workshop.

Through the darkness, Tails scanned around his workshop. Then he quietly closed the door Sonic had just walked through. He was alone again.

The young fox climbed up to the cockpit of the tornado. He sat amongst the steering controls that lay still, the blinking lights that lost their color, and the bright blue sheen on the wingtips that blended and faded with the darkness.

The blue sky was nowhere to be seen and the sun had gone to rest. The humming of the engines still rang through Tails's ears. The sharp crack of the machine guns could vaguely be heard from the still air.

The Ace, however, remained where he sat, at attention, and ready to take to the skies. "Nice and steady, girl," Tails said aloud as he rubbed the side of the plane.

He sighed and smiled as he unwound in the leather chair. He sank deeper and deeper into the cushion. He could already feel the stuffiness of the pilot's helmet resting on his head. The Mauser pistol holstered at his waist squeezed against the wall of the cockpit.

What was so important tomorrow that he had to get up for, anyway? Did he really have to get up  _that_  early? Sonic wanted him to go to bed anyway, so what was wrong with here?

Tails smiled as he relaxed his eyelids and drifting back off into subconscious. His body lost all weight as he slipped under.

_Dip, dip and swing..._

He opens his eyes to find himself standing in a grassy field. His pilot's cap and scarf are gone and his clothes are tattered. Opposite of him stands an enemy officer. Strangely enough, he takes on the likeness of Jet. Keeping with the period, he stands dressed in full regalia. The medals gleam on his chest and his tin helmet points toward the heavens. Every inch of him, from his boots to his cufflinks to his slightly hilarious pencil thin mustache, are spotless.

And here Tails stands, shabby, dirty, and covered in bruises from what he can only assume were earlier beatings. Like the good captain he is, he told them nothing, though Tails is not quite sure what information a pilot could have in a dream like this. At least he put up a good fight before he crashed.

"Bereit!" booms the voice of a third man. At once, Tails and Jet hold up their Mauser "Broomhandles." The hawk's bears the elegance of an upstanding gentleman with silver plating and fanciful engravings. Tails's gun shows only wear and marks from abuse. It is a workman's gun, not a showpiece like his opponent's.

"Wende!"

The two turn in step, backs facing one another.

"Eins ,Zwei, Drei, Vier, Fünf." They take a step with each number.

If the young fox survives, the soldiers surely would not stand to see their great captain be shot by some lowly, downed prisoner. Win or lose, Tails will go down as any great captain should. This fills him with a sense of pride. He smiles.

Their black silhouettes contrast with the orange glow of the sun setting against the horizon.

"Feuern!"

They turn towards each other.

The crack of pistols fill the air.

He goes down as any great captain should: with honor, pride, dignity, and something Tails only wish he had in the real world...Courage.

A fitting finale for a dramatic performance.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this one shot. I literally came up with the idea at midnight and it took me twenty minutes to finally sit down and write this. It's 4 AM now. Wow.
> 
> Thank you for reading. Any comments or criticisms are greatly appreciated. Also, yes, the tense does change from present to past and then back to present. That is intentional.
> 
> I barely consider myself a "sonic fan." The only real draw I have to the series is Tails. He is one of my favorite characters. I don't think I'm dedicated enough or really up to date to actively write in the Sonic archive. However, if I did, they would be focused mainly on Tails. I have had one vague idea in mind for an adventure type story based off of the game, Dark Cloud 2, but I can never really think of a solid plot for it. However, I am writing a massive six-way crossover with Homestuck. Sonic will be included and Tails will be the main character I will focus on out of the Sonic canon. Let me know if you are interested in either of these.
> 
> Nevertheless, thank you for reading my first Sonic story.


End file.
